Hemmingbirds Debut 'Toxic Noise' Video
By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 28, 2013 3:00PM
Last month, local indie rock act Hemmingbirds packed up their gear and specially acquired lighting equipment, and made their way to Maine West High School in Des Plaines, where their keyboardist works as choir director. Then, the four-man band used the school’s auditorium for 12 hours to film a video for their song “Toxic Noise.” The video has a light-show-inspired concept, which frontman Yoo Soo Kim explains:
Before shooting "Toxic Noise," we knew that there was a certain moving energy that the song has, but couldn't quite figure out a story or concept that best conveyed that energy. For a couple months, we were at a loss on what to film for the song, but at a show in Ames, IA, we stumbled on some music video that focused heavily on lights to contrast between different feelings of mellowness ahnd bombast. In a similar way, the quiet verses and loud choruses of "Toxic Noise" paralleled that song. To this day, we honestly have no clue what video we saw, but we commend that forever mysterious video for leading us to our concept.
The song is taken from the band’s recently-released sophomore album, The Vines of Age, which you can stream or purchase through their Bandcamp page. But note: while their first album Death Wave (don’t let the ominous title fool you) was largely mellow and upbeat, this new one takes a decidedly less poppy turn—it’s faster, harder, rougher, grindier, and other adjectives associated with good sex. In fact, it’s a concept album, as they describe, “in which the protagonist of the album ascends from his sleep into a world in his dreams. The world he enters is a desolate, isolated, and cold night, clouded in haze, and surrounded by a vast scenery of fields and mountains.”
You can catch Hemmingbirds live April 8 when they perform for CHIRP night, the non-profit’s monthly fundraiser, at the Whistler. Also playing will be Brooklyn’s jazzy pop trio Les Racquet. But for now, here’s that video:
Hemmingbirds play Monday, April 8 at The Whistler, 2421 N Milwaukee, 9:30 p.m., Free